Investigative Journalism
by VictimOfCircumstance
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto is an enterprising young journalist. Uchiha Sasuke is the mysterious story that he just can’t let slip through his fingers. But at what point does curiosity become more than mere professional interest? SasuNaru AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Investigative Journalism

**Pairings:** SasuNaru, and a myriad of cliché, overused side pairings

**Warnings: **Language (later), overused cliches, AU.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.

**Notes: **So it's not even close to the best thing I've ever written. I've been consistent with my too-much-dialogue-and-not-enough-detail style of writing.

I feel guilty for writing this, because… well, multiple reasons. But I wrote it anyway.

Enjoy.

**ooo**

"I don't care what you put there, just fill it in!" Naruto heard from inside the office. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, waiting it out. _Three… two… one…_

The door slammed open as Haruno Sakura stormed out. He fell into step beside her, grinning widely and (some might argue) sadistically. "I take it Tsunade-baa-chan didn't like it that we're short a story?"

"Naruto, do you want me to break the wall with your head?" Sakura asked in a poisonously sweet tone, her green eyes flashing with ire.

He instantly stepped a pace out of her reach, watching her warily. "Uhh… no. What do we do about it?"

"You're an environment and society reporter!" She yelled, gesticulating wildly in the air. "You find a story."

"Well, you're the environment and society editor!" He yelled back, refusing to take the blame for the situation. "It's not my fault some moron told you they'd have a story and then didn't show up with it!"

Sakura sighed world-wearily, rolling her head around to crack her neck. "I know, and I'm sorry for yelling at you. Just… we really need a story. Do you think you could do a follow-up of something that happened a while ago?"

A placated Naruto paused to think about it. "Maybe an anniversary story. You know, cash in on an event that happened a while ago, talk to the people involved, get a story about how their life has changed because of it."

"We're not in this business for the cash." Sakura pointed out.

Inuzuka Kiba, who happened to be passing by at the moment, took the chance to shake his head vehemently and growl, "Not with paychecks like these."

"Oh shut up," Naruto shot at him. "You're the freaking sports editor; you get way more money than us lowly reporters."

"_We_ lonely reporters," Sakura corrected instantly.

The blonde cocked his head, clearly confused. "You're an editor too, Sakura."

Sakura buried her head in her hands, exasperated, as Kiba gave a bark of laughter and kept walking. Sakura and Naruto reached the environment/society cubicles, and the glare the pink-haired woman shot Naruto over her shoulder as she entered the editor's office was remarkably easy to interpret: _find a story._

With a groan, he sank into his maroon fake-leather swivel chair and jogged the mouse to wake up his painfully old computer. _Wikipedia, here I come._ The free online encyclopedia could be credited as the background information for many of Naruto's articles, and it had yet to be wrong.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto burst into Sakura's office, waving a print-out in front of her face. "I got it! Fifteen years ago to this day, the Montreal Canadiens won their 24th Stanley Cup?"

"What?" She exclaimed icily, staring uncomprehendingly at the blond idiot. "Is that all?"

"Nah, I'm just kidding, Sakura-chan." Naruto snickered, almost twitching from excitement. "Fifteen years ago to this day, the Uchiha family was massacred."

"Oh…" Sakura brought a hand up to her mouth, speaking softly. "Tell me more."

Naruto dropped the papers onto the table and plopped down into a chair, kicking back and setting his feet on the mahogany surface. "One known survivor: the younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. It was a huge ultra-religious family; they all lived within a mile radius of each other. Every body is accounted for except for one. Itachi, the older brother."

Sakura nodded and took a seat next to Naruto, settling into her chair a tad bit more gracefully than he. She scanned over the print-out as he talked.

"Here's the kicker," He continued, eyes sparkling with intrigue. "Sasuke claims that Itachi is the one that did it."

Sakura's gaze shot up to him, her mouth literally dropping open in surprise.

"Nobody knows if it's true," Naruto shrugged, pointing to a highlighted passage. "They credit it to posttraumatic stress disorder, and there's no evidence pointing it to Itachi besides Sasuke's word. It's possible that he was kidnapped by the murderer, but like I said, his body was never found. Sasuke took over the company at age 16 – you know the one, Sharingan Corporation – and nothing ever came of the massacre. Completely unsolved crime."

"If it's a crime story, leave it to the hard news reporters," Sakura murmured vaguely, still scanning the article.

Naruto shook his head with a pout. "I'm not going to cover it from a crime angle. I'm going to do a follow-up on Sasuke himself… a features story. It'll be fine."

"I don't know, Naruto…" She winced, thinking of the stress that the poor Uchiha man must be under. "That seems kind of insensitive."

"Do you want a story or not, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, a strangely serious light in his normally childlike eyes.

She thought for a moment, then her own eyes hardened and she pointed out the door. "Go get me a story, and make it good."

The blonde grinned and pranced out the door, grabbing his coat and a reporter's notebook from his desk before going to seek out the Uchiha.

Twenty minutes later, he was knocking on the door of the largest mansion on which he had ever laid eyes. There were five cars in the driveway, all black and sleek and shiny. There were fountains in the yard, chandeliers in the windows, evergreens lining the walkway. This was the house of a rich megalomaniac. 

The door creaked halfway open to reveal a pair of the coldest black eyes Naruto had ever seen. The eyes were set on a pale, delicate face, contrasting against feminine pink lips, but blending in perfectly with the midnight bangs that partly blocked them from view.

"Do you need something?" The owner of said eyes inquired, his voice equally chilling.

Naruto snapped to attention, remembering for what he was there. "Yeah, I'm Uzumaki Naruto from the _Konoha Post,_ and I'm interested in doing a follow-up article to the event that happened here 15 years ago."

That's when the door slid shut.

Naruto set his jaw determinedly and knocked again, unwilling to take no for an answer.

This time, it took a full five minutes of knocking before the inhabitant of the house flung the door open, now looking royally pissed off.

"I'm not interested." The black-haired man growled, his arms crossed over his chest.

Naruto took a deep breath and prepared to make the argument of a lifetime. "I know that it seems forward to request an interview, but I can assure you, the article will be tasteful and – hold on, are you even Uchiha Sasuke?"

A hint of a smirk touched the man's lips as he nodded.

"Awesome!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air in victory. "So the article would be very tasteful and low-key, and you would definitely be able to look at it before it was printed."

Sasuke made a dramatic show of considering it before shaking his head. "Still not interested."

"How old were you at the time?" Naruto inquired, feigning innocence.

"Look, I'm not holding an interview. I don't want to be published." Sasuke glared frostily.

Naruto was stunned speechless at how very attractive this asshole was. Before, he just looked like an androgynously pretty boy. But when he glared… wowzers. Still an asshole, but a ridiculously gorgeous one.

Sasuke coughed delicately, drawing Naruto's attention away from his sculpted-in-marble jaw.

"You couldn't possibly consider it?" Naruto wheedled, about ready to genuflect in front of the guy.

"How much more mental scarring are you going to cause?" Sasuke growled, a sneer on his lips. "The media had a feeding frenzy with my parents' deaths. I might have been able to get over it, but for the fact that I couldn't leave the house for months without being mobbed by supposed well-wishers and sycophants who wanted my family's money. What more can you take from me?"

A pout sprang up on the blonde's lips, making his face look even more round and childish. "You can't blame me for something some insensitive reporter did 15 years ago."

Sasuke almost face-palmed, except that Uchiha's do not express themselves outwardly like that. "That's exactly what you're trying to do again. Make a story out of my tragedy. Make money from my pain." He hoped that would be sufficiently angsty to make the blond man leave out of guilt, but such was not the case. "Are you _writing that down!"_

"What!" Naruto shrugged defensively, trying to hide the small reporter's notebook from view. "It was a good quote!"

"Let me make this very clear to you," The black-haired man murmured in a throaty voice, leaning against the doorframe with insolent grace. "I assume you are familiar with the concept of _death, _Uzumaki."

Naruto nodded dumbly.

"If you come onto my property one more time, I will kill you." Sasuke said bluntly, pushing himself off the doorframe to lean closer to Naruto. His tone dropped into an almost crooning whisper, juxtaposing a romantic voice with somewhat less than romantic words. "I don't mean I'll-damage-your-reputation-death. I don't mean come-back-from-a-coma-after-a-week-death. I mean full-blown, buzzards-picking-at-your-mangled-corpse-in-some-godforsaken-desert-death. Are you prepared for that, Uzumaki?"

Naruto could only stare, eyes wide, at the frighteningly good-looking madman in front of him.

Sasuke leaned closer still, lingering his lips over Naruto's ear. The blonde couldn't bring his body to move back, still reeling from the Uchiha's words. "I didn't think so," Naruto heard in that same throaty whisper. 

Naruto shuddered – literally _shuddered _– at the sensation, the contrast, of cool lips and warm breath so close to his ear. _How cliché, _some detached part of his brain told him disgustedly. 

And Uchiha Sasuke pulled away, sent one final glare in his direction, and slammed the door in his face.


	2. Harken! It's exposition time!

Title: Investigative Journalism

**Title:** Investigative Journalism

**Pairings:** SasuNaru, and a myriad of cliché, overused side pairings

**Warnings: **Language (later), overused cliches, AU.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me.

**Notes: **Who's ready for some EXPOSITION?

**oo**

"He threatened me, Shikamaru!" Naruto repeated for the fourth time, still waiting for a reaction. "Threatened. To. Kill. Me. What about this do you not understand?"

The politics editor raised his head from his folded arms in order to shoot Naruto a flat look. Thus far, the tactic of ignoring him had been unsuccessful – but really, was it ever? "Apparently, the part where he threatened to kill you." He deadpanned.

Naruto growled and sped up his pacing in front of Shikamaru's desk. "Aargh! Why are you so blasé about it? I could be dead in two days, and it will be all your fault! I'll be lying in a morgue, with only a sheet covering me, a death tag on my toe, and you'll have to face the coroner and say, 'yeah, I let him die.' Because it'll be your fault!"

"Naruto." Shikamaru grimaced, massaging his temples. "Go away. I'm busy."

"Busy?" Naruto squawked with outrage. "You're not busy! You're sleeping on your desk! How are you busy?"

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. A pale man pushed open the door without waiting for an answer, his black bangs falling in his face to partially mask his expressionless black eyes.

"Sai." Both Shikamaru and Naruto acknowledged simultaneously.

He smiled wanly and waved a manila folder in the air. "They're all ready."

"Good." Shikamaru yawned, holding his hand out for the folder. "Once I scan them in, the layout is done."

Naruto stepped closer to the desk, peering over it as Shikamaru flipped open the folder to reveal the contents. "I don't get it, Sai." He screwed up his face in deep thought. "You're such a good artist. Why do you do political cartoons instead of like… real art?"

"It takes a stand against something." Sai explained, retaining the blank smile. "I'm good at forming honest opinions."

"That you are," Naruto agreed disapprovingly. "Sometimes brutally honest."

Sai patted the blonde's shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry. A lot of people have small penises. You're not the only one."

Naruto shouted in anger, about to pounce on the pale man and rip his eyes out, when Shikamaru intervened. "Good stuff, Sai. Now both of you get out of my office."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stalked out. He brushed past Yamanaka Ino on his way out. Glancing back, he saw that Ino was going into Shikamaru's office.

_Heh. Wonder what they do together, alone in that office of his._ He pondered to himself fiendishly. Really, the relationship between the two was very strange. They were complete opposites in almost every way. Shikamaru was the editor of the politics spread, lazy, unkempt, and a deep thinker. Ino was a fashion columnist, ambitious, chic, and outwardly as deep as a toilet. But according to the rumor mill, they had been friends since birth, and for whatever reason, had remained so. Well, them along with the local food critic, Akimichi Choji.

Naruto heard Sai and Ino exchange pleasantries behind him.

"Hey, Sai-kun. Is Shikamaru in his office?" Ino was saying coyly, twirling a strand of long blond hair between her slender fingers.

"Hello, Ms. Beautiful." Sai said politely, much to Ino's delight. "He's working on the politics spread."

Naruto rolled his eyes and kept walking, knowing that no matter how much Ino flirted, Sai wasn't interested. Hell, Sai was either gay – judging by the amount he hit on Naruto – or entirely asexual.

He grabbed a full copy of the _Konoha Post _and scanned over the front page. Aagh, how much would he give to be on it! Not as a story, but as a reporter! So far, he'd only been on the front page once, for a story about budget cuts in the school system. Thrillsville, right?

But he wanted to do a hard news story! Crime, adultery, war, explosions, something interesting! Sighing wistfully, he turned the page to find the story that he'd actually written. Section G, page 7. Joy of joys.

Wait a second… he flipped back to the front page, seeking out the story in the corner of it. Another member of Akatsuki killed? What the hell was going on?!

Akatsuki was a crime syndicate, for lack of a better term. The only known members were dead – as in, the police only found out that the often respected members of society were criminals after their bodies were found washed up on shore somewhere. They were all found with the signature Akatsuki rings on their fingers. The secret society had been dubbed Akatsuki by the _Konoha Post_ because all of their crimes were committed in that dimly lit time between night and day – dawn.

So far, four members were found dead.

Famed founder of the _Suna Marionette Theatre_ Sasori had been found by Sakura herself, floating in the pond at the park she frequented. She had called in the _Post_ crime reporter Hatake Kakashi, who had in turn brought in an old friend from the police, Maito Gai. The next day, a story had run asking the public for any information at all. No accurate leads came.

Next had been psycho priest Hidan, who led the cult of Jashin. He specialized in human sacrifice, although he was never convicted of it. And while that sounded freaky enough on its own, he turned out to also be a member of Akatsuki. His body had been found in pieces, buried in somebody's backyard. Shikamaru had called it in.

Actually, Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if Shikamaru himself had killed him. Shikamaru's teacher/mentor Sarutobi Asuma had died around that time, and Ino had told Naruto that Shikamaru had a theory relating his death to Hidan. Whatevs. He was dead, Shikamaru hadn't been caught for anything, and really… someone that freaky deserved to die anyway.

Soon after that was the taxidermist (Naruto couldn't hold in a disgusted face as he thought of it) Kakuzu. He was kind of creepy also. Not only did he stuff dead animals for a living, but he had the weirdest tattoos covering his body… ugh. Anyway, his body had been found with a bullet through the heart by the police, but Gai had been really helpful in getting information to Kakashi about it.

And the latest was the famous potter Deidara. He had… (Naruto quickly scanned over the article) He had killed himself?! Well, that was weird. But… wait, something was up. Looking at the byline, he saw that Kakashi had written the story. Well, time to go find the man himself.

After searching high-and-low for about two hours, Naruto finally managed to track Kakashi down at the police precinct. He was in the lobby, reading his favorite graphic novel – which Naruto _so _did not want to know about – and waiting for Gai to show up so that they could talk about the latest death.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried as he caught sight of the man. "I've got some questions for you."

Kakashi glanced up and smiled welcomingly. Or at least, Naruto _thought_ that he was smiling welcomingly. It was actually kind of hard to tell, what with Kakashi's omnipresent scarf covering his mouth, and the eye patch over one eye. Rumor had it that his eye had been shot out while he was on a stakeout, but nobody really knew.

Kakashi never really had been Naruto's teacher, but he had been the closest person in Naruto's life to a mentor, really. It was kind of complicated. Kakashi had agreed to take on two students/interns and show them the ropes of journalism, when Naruto had been in seventh grade. Naruto and Sakura were the lucky two, and after that, Naruto had no question in his mind about what he was going to do when he grew up.

"Why did Deidara kill himself?" Naruto huffed and puffed as he reached Kakashi, dead tired from all the running around he had been doing.

Kakashi leaned forward, his one eye suddenly very serious. "This is off the record, Naruto."

The blonde nodded firmly.

"He didn't kill himself on his own accord." Kakashi revealed. "Tenten, the forensics specialist here, says that he had been tortured, probably for information."

Naruto raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "What information could he possibly hold?"

"The other members of Akatsuki, of course." Kakashi shook his head at Naruto's cluelessness. "Someone's tracking them down, searching for one in particular. No one knows why."

"So he killed himself in order to keep the information secret." Naruto inferred, stroking his chin in contemplation (plus it made him look really sophisticated). "That's loyalty."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, his eye curving in amusement. "Actually, that's not right."

"What?" Naruto asked, pouting. He threw himself on the bench and crossed his arms. "Why'd he do it?"

"He did it because he was going to die anyway, and he wanted to kill his tormentor in the process. The person who essentially killed him escaped before the bomb went off, though." Kakashi explained, a thoughtful expression growing in his eye. "It's interesting, though. There is evidence that suggests relations between this death and the other Akatsuki deaths."

"You mean…" Naruto paused, unwilling to say the dramatically cheesy line.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded deeply. "Someone is hunting down Akatsuki. We have a new crime organization to worry about."

There was a moment of silence, before it was broken by Naruto's ring-tone.

_We are fighting dreamers Takami wo mezashite  
Fighting Dreamers Narifuri kama–_

"Hello?" Naruto answered after fishing the cell phone from his pocket, ignoring Kakashi's snickers next to him.

Sakura's piercing voice made itself known. "Naruto! Someone called for you, they said it's urgent, and they want you to call back. I have the number here, are you ready for it?"

"Uh…" Naruto stammered, patting himself down in search of a pen. "Sure, go."

"Eight – six - five. Three – four – three. Twenty-one-hundred." She concluded, and hung up the phone instantly.

Naruto stared blankly at it for a moment, then exploded in a mass of flailing arms and wild, unintelligible speech. "How did she expect me to remember that?!"

"You gave her the ok to say it," Kakashi pointed out, nose buried in his book.

The blond man pouted, staring at the cell phone as if expecting the numbers to mystically appear on the screen. "Yeah, but I thought I'd be able to get her to repeat it. Aagh, was it … eight six four, three–"

"Eight six five," Kakashi corrected.

Naruto turned slowly and retrained his gaze on him. "Do you know the number?"

The one-eyed man nodded happily.

Again, an explosion of thrashing limbs. "Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"

Kakashi shrugged, unperturbed.

"Alright, alright, what's the number?" Naruto handed him the cell phone.

Kakashi rapidly entered in a string of nine digits and handed the device back to Naruto.

Hitting the send button and holding the phone up to his ear, Naruto asked curiously, "How did you know the number? Could you hear Sakura's voice?"

"You mouthed the numbers as she read them to you." Kakashi explained. "I've got a good memory."

Naruto nodded in comprehension, half-listening to Kakashi and half to the ringing in his ear.

"Plus, by the first three digits, I could tell that she was reading you Uchiha Sasuke's cell phone number." Kakashi continued nonchalantly, prompting a startled squeak from Naruto just as the person on the other end picked up.

"Uzumaki. Just how badly do you need a story?"

**oo**

Constructive criticism yes?


	3. Sharkman arrives

Guess who we get to meet this chapter?

**oo**

"Hang up your coat in the closet, and take off your shoes," Sasuke directed as soon as he opened the door. He walked away without waiting for an answer.

Naruto scowled at his retreating back and slipped off his sneakers, slamming the door behind him with relish. Sure, it was juvenile, but damn it all, Sasuke deserved it.

Dropping his coat on the floor, he jogged after Sasuke, staring around the mansion with unmasked awe. It was even more impressive from the inside, all regal and ornate antiques. Then he entered the kitchen, and literally did a double take. Everything in the kitchen was brand-spankin'-new, from the black marble counters to the sleek silver and chrome of everything else. It looked like the inside of a Sears catalogue.

Sasuke opened the hulking silver refrigerator_**of doom**_(Naruto's mind had a tendency to add that to any phrase that he thought lacked pizzazz) and withdrew a bottle of Perrier.

Naruto stared at it, eyes drawn to the green glass bottle. "What _is_ that?" His tone was excited, curious, and reverent simultaneously.

The black-haired man glanced down at the bottle and then back up to Naruto, one eyebrow arched in derisive disbelief. "…It's _mineral water_." He exclaimed, imitating the journalist's tone and opening his eyes wide in mock-enthusiasm.

Even Naruto wasn't oblivious enough to miss such obvious ridicule. He pouted, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked pointedly away.

Sasuke didn't exactly smile, of course, because Uchiha's don't smile, because Uchiha's are never amused by anything, because nothing is humorous to an Uchiha, but… his lips were definitely quirked up at the corners.

"So why did you call me here anyway?" Naruto asked as means of changing the subject.

The Uchiha's face promptly wiped itself of any expression. He set his elbows on the counter and laced his fingers together, resting his chin on his folded hands. "I reconsidered your offer, and I want to volunteer information for a story."

Naruto stared at him in silence for a moment, then sprang forth into jubilant action. "What? That's awesome! I do have a few questions prepared–"

"I'm not finished." Sasuke coolly interrupted him. "There are conditions."

Naruto's face fell; a very strong feeling in his gut told him that he would not like these conditions, so he might as well leave now.

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but broke off as he felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. Holding a finger up to Naruto in a signal for silence, he pulled it out and flipped it open. "Go." He commanded to the person on the other end. There was silence for about ten seconds, then Sasuke's eyes widened with fervor and he murmured breathily into the phone, "Oh, I'll be there."

He snapped the phone shut with no further ado and slid it back into his pocket, gesturing for Naruto to leave. "I just received an important call. This interview will have to wait."

"What?" Naruto squawked, genuinely offended. "The story's due today! It can't wait!"

Sasuke shrugged minutely, showing exactly how little he cared, before he paused and gazed up, seeming to think it over. "Fine. You're coming with me."

He padded out of the room without another word, leaving Naruto no choice – not that he would have argued anyway. Things were getting more interesting all the time.

By the time Naruto was in the passenger seat of the Uchiha's Lotus, Sasuke had changed from a button-up shirt and slacks (standard business attire) to a loose white shirt that showcased almost his entire chest and baggy black martial-arts-style pants (over-confident samurai attire). For a belt to keep the pants from falling down his slim hips, he used a purple rope.

Naruto was all set to make fun of his abso-fricking-lutely, hilariously bizarre clothing, except he was distracted by the play of toned muscles on his lean chest. Damn, but the Uchiha had nice pecs. Naruto glowered down at his own torso. He wasn't fat or anything, but he also didn't have a six-pack and muscles that rippled as he moved.

Speaking of which, Sasuke was getting in the car.

They drove in silence for about twenty minutes. Naruto pressed his face up against the window and stared at the passing scenery, and Sasuke kindly refrained from strangling him for dirtying the glass.

"…Sasuke?" Naruto asked hesitantly, pulling back from the window to stare at Sasuke with wide, bamboozled eyes.

Sasuke said nothing, merely cocked an eyebrow as an invitation for speech.

"Why are we in the red-light district?" Naruto stammered, still gawking. There were scantily-clad women outside staring into the car hungrily, sensing the power and status of the expensive sports car and its equally prestigious owner.

The black-haired man smirked and shot a condescending look at Naruto. "We're passing through, you total idiot."

"Oh…" Naruto heaved a sigh of relief. "Phew. So why did you decide to do an interview after all?"

"We're here." Sasuke said abruptly, ignoring the question. He parked the car and got out, gesturing for Naruto to follow.

Gazing around, Naruto supposed it could have been worse. Technically, they _were _out of the red-light district, and there were thankfully no prostitutes in sight. However, the club they were walking into was kind of… seedy. It definitely wasn't somewhere Naruto would have entered on his own.

"Ministry of Sound, huh?" Naruto mused, head tilted up to read the sign. "Never heard of it."

Sasuke declined to answer. He stepped into the club, not bothering to hold the door for his guest, and disappeared into the darkness. Naruto took a deep breath – subconsciously preparing to hold it in if the air inside was as polluted as he feared – and followed.

Inside, Naruto could now see why Sasuke had changed his clothes. The purple rope, black pants, and barely-there white shirt were about the most normal outfit there, Naruto's orange t-shirt and jeans notwithstanding. Sasuke pushed through the crowd, slipping between dancing grinding bodies with a practiced ease. He led to way to a secluded table in the back, where three people were already sitting.

Naruto itched to have his reporter's notebook in hand, but he had unthinkingly left it in the car. What a shame. He wanted to document the oddities that were the three people Sasuke had apparently come to see.

The most normal of the three was the sole female. She had flaming red hair that was long and combed on one side, but short and unkempt on the other. Her clothing was neither remarkable nor normal – short black shorts, long black socks, and a half-unzipped (from the bottom?) coat. Then she 

turned her gaze to Naruto, and he saw that behind the thick black glasses were scarlet red eyes. That was… unsettling, the say the least.

Somewhat less normal was the biggest male, but his only real differentiation from most people was in sheer size. He was enormous. He had a – was that a curtain?! – wrapped around his body, and blondish hair that somehow went up instead of down. Huh.

Lastly, there was the really weird guy. He had silvery blue hair that could have been ironed, it was so straight. Bluish-white pants. Purple sleeveless turtleneck. Electric blue eyes. And – Naruto could see as he smiled – reaaaalllly sharp teeth _**of doom**_.

"Hey Sasuke, who's the chick?" Shark-man asked without looking away from Naruto.

The blonde glanced around dumbly, realized that shark-man was talking about him, and exploded in a frenzy of rage and injured pride. "Who are you calling a chick?" He shouted, flinging himself at the blue-haired man.

Sasuke caught him by the collar before he could get very far, effectively gagging him and preventing him from being the victim of a gruesome murder at the same time. "A reporter. Uzumaki…"

Red-haired lady raised her eyebrows, staring at Naruto challengingly. "Uzumaki? What kind of name is that?"

"Uzumaki…" Sasuke repeated, his voice contemplative. Only his eyes betrayed any frustration that he may have been feeling.

Naruto watched him for a moment before it occurred to him that Sasuke honestly didn't know his name. "Naruto!" He yelled, flailing his arms some more. Luckily Sasuke still had him by the collar, or he probably would have physically lifted himself off the ground with the force of his thrashing. "Uzumaki Naruto! Don't forget it!"

Sasuke side-stepped his flapping arms and gestured for shark-man to come with him. "Suigetsu. Follow me. You three, acquaint yourselves." Shark-man – Suigetsu, Naruto made a point to commit it to memory – stood and walked into a nearby corner to converse with Sasuke, as the blond journalist took his seat.

"Hey big guy, red." Naruto said brazenly. "What's crackin'?"

The red-haired woman leaned forward and said in a poisonously sweet tone (which for some reason reminded Naruto of Sakura), "Hey, blondie, stay away from Sasuke, alright?"

He cocked his head, genuinely confused, and replied, "I don't really know him. I'm only here because I need to write a story about the Uchiha massacre."

She perked up at that, assured that he wasn't going to get in the way of her and her Sasuke-kun. "Good. Well then, I'm Karin, and this is Juugo." She gestured to the large man next to her, who extended his hand and smiled politely.

Naruto shook hands with him, forming instant opinions about the three of them. Suigetsu was an asshole, Karin was a little obsessive but nice enough, and Juugo seemed to be a normal, nice guy. And Sasuke… well, Sasuke was an enigma. Mostly a bastard, but there seemed to be something deeper lurking under the stoic mask.

Speaking of Sasuke… Naruto glanced into the corner and saw him and that Suigetsu guy speaking in hushed voices. Sasuke was facing away from the table, leaning forward in order to hear Suigetsu better.

Unable to hear a single word of the conversation, Naruto tried his hand at lip-reading. He unconsciously screwed up his face, tilting his head to the side as if it would help him hear better. 

Suigetsu was talking, saying something about… kiss? No, no… kiss a… oh, Kisame! Naruto vaguely recalled having heard that name before, and made a mental note to research it later.

"So, Uzumaki!" Karin said loudly, intentionally and successfully distracting him from Suigetsu and Sasuke's conversation.

"Naruto!" He cried back at equal volume. "Do none of you call people by their first names?"

She smiled at him, although there was no humor in her eyes. "Right, Naruto. So you're a reporter?"

"Yep." Naruto replied, craning his neck around to see where he could get a drink.

"What kind of reporting do you do?" She tilted her head, sounding sincerely interested.

The blonde shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "Uhh… mostly society and environment stuff…"

Though there was no great change in her demeanor, Karin suddenly seemed far more relaxed, as though she had been afraid of the answer for some reason. But why would she have been?

"Do you know Kakashi?" Juugo suddenly asked. Naruto turned to answer him, but didn't miss the warning look Karin shot the large man. What was going on here?

"Yeah, I do!" Naruto exclaimed proudly. "He's like my mentor."

Karin put on a thoughtful face, batting her eyelashes prettily. "Isn't he the one writing about all those… what was it… Akatsuke murders?"

"It's Akatsuki," Naruto corrected. "And yeah, that's him."

"Ooh, how interesting." She cooed breathily. "Do you anything special about them?"

Naruto, thinking of his conversation with Kakashi, was about to answer an exuberant yes, when he remembered that Kakashi had told him to keep it off the record. "Sorry, I don't think I'm allowed to talk about it," He apologized sheepishly.

"That's too bad," She pouted, but behind her sad countenance, Naruto could see true disappointment, even anger. Something was going on.

"I thought Sasuke didn't like talking about his family." Juugo said, his tone impressed. "Why did he agree to hold an interview with you?"

Naruto was beginning to wonder that himself, and could offer no answer other than a shrug.

"Actually, I need to speak to you about that." Naruto heard from behind him.

Turning, Naruto found Sasuke to be leaning against the back of his chair, his arms folded and bracing his weight. The blonde yelped, jerking away from him. "When the hell did you get there?" He sputtered, feeling the table at his back.

There was suddenly a strange sensation on the back of his head. He spun back around and found Suigetsu, sitting on the table, carefully emptying a water bottle down Naruto's neck. The blonde gave a wordless shout, swatting the blue-haired man's hand away.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" He asked rhetorically, flustered. Suigestu was cackling madly, and Karin was snickering from the sidelines while Juugo smiled. Even Sasuke wore an amused smirk.

"Settle down," Sasuke eventually commanded. Naruto was stunned to see the three immediately descend into silence. "I brought you here for a reason, Uzumaki. These three have been associated with me since childhood, and you can use their quotes in the article."

Naruto believed him until he noticed the looks that were being traded across the table. Juugo looked ashamed, Karin incredulous, and Suigetsu amused.

"Friends from childhood?" Naruto directed at the three across the table. They nodded, but Juugo's hesitation spoke volumes. "You swear?" Naruto inquired, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Suigetsu raised his left hand and sanctimoniously swore, "Scout's honor."

Karin elbowed him in the ribs and hissed, "Wrong hand, dumbass!"

Needless to say, Naruto wasn't sure about this.

"If you recall, there is a condition." Sasuke reminded him, ignoring the feuding pair.

"Name it." Naruto leaned back in his chair, keeping a close eye on Suigetsu. He could feel Sasuke's arms against his back, his lips mere centimeters from the top of Naruto's head.

Sasuke lowered his voice, making it quiet enough that Juugo and Karin had to lean in to hear. "Write a story about the Uchiha massacre… and state that Itachi is the murderer."

**oo**

Suigetsu is pretty much my favorite character. Except for Kankuro. Because having a little meat on your bones is hot.

Reviews, si'l vous plait?


	4. the unraveling of a psychopath

**A/N: Karin doesn't have a last name, so I had to make one up. Alright.**

**oo**

"Are you crazy?" Naruto exclaimed, probably louder than was wise. "There's no evidence against Itachi. At this point, what difference would it make?"

Sasuke sighed and motioned for Suigetsu to get off the table. He pulled up two chairs from an empty table nearby and they took their seats. He leaned in closer as well, so that the five heads were huddled closely together.

He began what Naruto could tell would be a long tirade, speaking in a carefully hushed tone. "What do you think is the cause of most of the convictions in the courtrooms?" Sasuke asked the group as a whole, although he obviously wasn't looking for an answer. "It's the media. The media forms a case against a suspect, sways public opinion, which in turn sways the opinion of the jury. If the media decided that it hated a certain person, that person would already have a figurative noose around his neck."

Naruto raised his eyebrows, clearly skeptical. Really, the way Sasuke-bastard said it, it made it sound like he had the power to kill someone. Bullshit.

Sasuke read the doubt from his face and continued. "Exhibit A. Leo Frank. Suspected of the rape and murder of a 13 year-old girl in Alabama. It was clear that he didn't do it. The newspaper ran stories framing him for it, and he was later lynched because of them. Exhibit B. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post. They caught Nixon and his staff for Watergate, even if nobody else did. His resignation is entirely due to them."

Naruto felt himself leaning in closer, listening intently. Sasuke-bastard did make a convincing argument…

"I need you to write a story about Itachi." Sasuke said, his voice and eyes darkening as he said the name. "That way, _if and when_ he dies, the public and thus the police won't be searching too stridently for his murderer."

The blond man jerked back so quickly he fell out of his chair. He used the table for leverage as he dragged himself up, sputtering in shock. "Are you serious? You're going to kill your brother and–"

Sasuke clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, glancing around warily. "Shut up!" He hissed, satisfied that no one had heard the blonde's outburst. "I never said that."

"Let me tell you something about Sasuke," Suigetsu drawled, smirking at the Uchiha. "He loved Itachi as much as anything. No matter how much he hates him now for killing his parents, there's no way he'd actually be able to kill him."

Sasuke put on a disparaging, pained expression. It was clear that Suigetsu's remark about him loving Itachi wasn't even remotely accurate in his mind.

"So if you're not going to kill Itachi," Naruto pursed his lips suspiciously, "Then what's the point of the article? I need a good reason before I put my career on the line like that."

"Please." Karin interjected, rolling her scarlet eyes in disinterest. "Cut the bullshit. This article will be the only story you've ever written worth reading."

Naruto stewed silently to himself, unable to argue. Even he thought that his articles were crap. He wanted to write something substantial!

And with that goal in mind, Naruto looked up to meet the cool black eyes of Uchiha Sasuke, gave a deep nod, and agreed.

**oo**

**The Unraveling of a Psychopath**

_By _UZUMAKI NARUTO

_The Konoha Post_

Uchiha Itachi has a smooth white face with delicate features, arranged in an imperious expression. His black eyes are blocked from sight by a pair of blood-red contacts. His black hair is gathered in a low ponytail, with long bangs framing his face. His stature is average; his body unremarkable.

Who is Uchiha Itachi, you ask? His name strikes a foreign chord in your mind; you may have read something, somewhere, about him, once upon a time. But you can't remember. Was he an athlete? An actor? Did he die some tragic death? Of those options, the last one is the closest. Who is Uchiha Itachi?

A murderer of the worst kind.

On June 9, 1993, Itachi took his father's antique katana from the mantelpiece and went from house to house, killing every member of his extended family. But that wasn't enough for the deranged 13 year-old. Once his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were dead, he decided to hit closer to home. Literally.

He walked back to his own mansion. Did his mother scold him for being late for dinner? Did his father tell him to get started on his homework? The world may never know. By the time his little brother got home from school, Uchiha Mikoto was decapitated, and Uchiha Fugaku had bled to death from multiple stab wounds to the chest.

There was one survivor. One witness. One frightened eight year-old boy, who grew up to be the CEO of the world-renowned company, Sharingan Corporations.

Uchiha Sasuke is now 23 years old, and lives alone in the vast Uchiha mansion. It is by his word alone that this article is based; the story has only passed through his lips.

Did Itachi really murder his family? "I believe Sasuke," Sasuke's childhood friend Hozuki Suigetsu said. "Itachi was always a stoic child. He never had any sort of expression on his face. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he was a psychopath."

Another childhood friend of Sasuke's, Narita Karin, agreed. "He was socially awkward, if not inept. He didn't have friends. He was always the top of his class at school."

Yuuhi Kurenai, acclaimed psychologist at the Konoha state penitentiary, chalked these up as common characteristics of a psychopath. "If what they say is true, he shows clear psychodynamic implications. Good intelligence, absence of nervousness, insincerity, lack of remorse, antisocial behavior, egocentricity, incapacity for love, and unresponsiveness in interpersonal relations, to name a few. Itachi showed signs of sociopathy at an early age."

However, should we trust the word of a possibly imbalanced eight year-old? Is Sasuke so obsessed with closure that he would have hallucinations and delusions to explain the massacre?

His court-ordered psychoanalysis from July of 1993 provided insight, but no clear answer: '_Persistent nightmares, persistent symptoms of increased arousal (difficulty falling asleep, anger), duration of symptoms, significant impairment in social functioning, avoidance of stimuli: suggest post-traumatic stress disorder. Possible hallucinations. Very clear/unchanging description of events, unusual with PTSD.'_

If not Itachi, who else would have killed the Uchiha family? Someone looking to take over the Uchiha fortune would likely have killed the heir to the corporation, but why leave Sasuke alive? If Itachi didn't kill his parents, then where is he now? If Itachi did kill his family, why did he do it? Unfortunately, no one knows enough information to answer these questions.

Is Itachi a murderer? It's impossible to give a definite answer. However, a word of warning. If you see a man with the aforementioned features walking towards you on a dark and stormy night… don't stick around long enough to ask.

**oo**

Nara Shikamaru entered the _Post_ building two hours late for work, as per usual. Looking around, he saw everyone reading the same article – the article that he himself had been reading on the way to work. _Naruto's got everyone's attention with this one,_ he thought wryly to himself. Instead of going to the politics cubicles, he ambled into the environment/society section of the building.

He made sure to keep his footsteps silent as he passed a certain door, but it proved to be futile as the door was flung open and he was dragged inside by his collar. He sighed, not even bothering to struggle.

"Nara." Tsunade greeted him. The editor-in-chief of the _Konoha Post_ waved the previously mentioned article in his face. "Is Naruto suicidal? Why did he write this article?"

"Who knows how that moron's brain works?" Shikamaru drawled, his hands in his pockets. He scowled instinctively as he gazed at the article. It wasn't even on the front page of the paper (although it was on the front page of the environment section). Why was it so interesting? He only read it because he wanted to know how _Naruto _got on the front page of anything.

"There's not an ounce of proof that Itachi had anything to do with the Uchiha massacre." Tsunade sighed deeply, her ample cleavage heaving along with her breathing. Shikamaru watched it with the barest interest. "Why would Naruto state it as fact?"

Shikamaru shrugged languidly. "He doesn't claim that it's the truth. I mean, he does point out that it's all Sasuke's word."

She glared mildly at him, but didn't dispute the point. "What's the public's response to it?" She asked after a while, padding back to her side of the desk.

"I saw loads of people reading it on the way over, but…" Shikamaru trailed off, his eyebrows arching. "I don't know whether it's had a good or bad reaction. I was just going over to Naruto's desk to ask."

The blonde nodded absent-mindedly, turning to her computer. "Report back to me once you learn anything."

He nodded and waved a hand lazily in farewell, sauntering out of the office and over to Naruto's cubicle. He arrived and leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn't help but be amused at the way Naruto was tilted back in his chair, his legs propped up on the desk, as he read through his emails. Even his body language said it – Naruto was _smug _about the article.

"So how much shit are you in?" Shikamaru asked, not bothering with a greeting.

Naruto spun his chair around, a supercilious grin on his lips. "None whatsoever."

"None?" Shikamaru raised one eyebrow, skeptical. Sure, he didn't expect the blond man to lose his job over this, but he wasn't getting any bad feedback? Surely the public wasn't _that_ gullible. For the past 15 years, the media had been saying that Itachi had probably been kidnapped or killed by the murderer. He was a golden boy. People had sent letters of consolation in, siding with him, saying that it was so sad that that 'poor Uchiha boy' had disappeared. And now Naruto was blowing it all out of the water with a story about him as the murderer, and nobody was mad at him? Well, that was weird.

"People are eating it up," Naruto crowed, gesturing to his email inbox, which was full to bursting with incoming messages. "They love it. They want more. Sakura's making me write a follow-up article about Sasuke himself, and his mental state these days."

"Speaking of which," Shikamaru lowered himself onto the desk, sliding so his back hit the cubicle wall. He stretched out his legs and rested them on the armrest of Naruto's swivel chair. "How is that Uchiha bastard?"

"Bastardish as always," Naruto rolled his eyes, exasperated. "He's – hey wait, do you know Sasuke?"

Shikamaru shook his head; rather, his head lolled back and forth languorously. "Not personally. All I know is, whenever anyone tries to interview him, they get a face-full of door and a broken heart."

"Why a broken heart?" Naruto asked, leaning forward interestedly.

The black-haired man looked disbelievingly at Naruto from half-lidded eyes. "You've seen how the boy looks. Once glare and all the girls are in love with him. And then there's the inevitable rejection."

"Yeah," Naruto scowled, looking like he was about to say more, but thought better of it. Shikamaru watched curiously as Naruto's eyes glazed over, clearly in deep thought about something. The blonde bit down on his lower lip, his fingers clenching into the armrest, and his face looked so forlorn that Shikamaru almost burst out laughing. Obviously, females weren't the only demographic on which Sasuke had an effect.

Sakura appeared in the entrance to the cubicle, her face a strange combination of pride and irritation. "Naruto, what the hell is up with this article?" She shouted, thrusting it in his face.

He pushed her hand aside, blinking as he was brought out of his daydream with a jolt. "Uhh, what do you mean?"

"For one thing, when I sent you out there to interview Sasuke, I didn't think you'd come back with an article about Itachi being a psycho!" The pink-haired woman braced her hands on her hips, struggling to stay angry. "I mean, I'm glad I made the decision to put it onto the front page, but what the hell?"

"But Sakura-chan!" Naruto protested, his hands held up in a defensive manner. "I'm getting great feedback for it!"

Sakura whacked him upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper. "Did I say you could talk?" Her green eyes spoke of the same intensity as her flushed cheeks, and Shikamaru was abruptly grateful that he only had Ino's craziness to deal with.

Naruto shouted wordlessly, his arms wind-milling to protect his face. "Stoppit!"

"Fine." She ceased her hand, crossing her arms over her chest. "Dumbass. And another thing! What the hell is wrong with you? Did the article really have to be that dramatic?!"

The reporter pouted childishly, his tone mulish. "I like it that way. Shikamaru, did you think it was too dramatic?"

Shikamaru shrugged, unwilling to pick sides on this argument. Too much effort. Fortunately for him, it turned out that he didn't have to.

An amused yet icy voice spoke from the doorway of the cubicle (it was getting kind of crowded in there). "I must agree with her, Uzumaki. Could you have been more corny?"

"Shuddup, bastard!" Naruto retorted as Shikamaru and Sakura stared at the newcomer. Emotionless black eyes gazed back, from a frame of delicate features and black bangs. This was, without a doubt, Uchiha Sasuke.

Shikamaru was entertained by the way Sakura's cheeks flushed at the sight of the CEO; the Uchiha's charm was not lost on her. She was clearly trying not to get too invested, however, given that she had a boyfriend, and a genuinely nice one at that. (No matter how great the illustrious Uchiha Sasuke was, no one would ever say that he was nicer than Rock Lee. Ever).

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his expression unimpressed. "I'm quite displeased with you, by the way. You called me an imbalanced eight year-old."

"Well, you might as well be." Naruto shot back. "You certainly act juvenile enough."

"This from the man who asked for chocolate milk at the bar," Sasuke replied coolly.

Naruto squawked in indignity. "I forgot my ID at home, and he wouldn't believe me when I told him I was over 21. It's not my fault I look young. You, on the other hand, could pass for a 30-year old."

Shikamaru and Sakura traded amused looks. It was interesting to see how comfortable Naruto and Sasuke were with each other; they traded banter like they had been unwilling acquaintances all their lives. And when had they gone out to a bar together…?

"Better 30 than 13," Sasuke said glibly.

"Agh, just shut up!" Naruto stood up angrily, his cheeks flushed. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Sasuke looked down, unable to meet Naruto's eyes. "I wished to tell you that, even though you were sadly misinformed about many things, the article was… adequate." He had to force the word out, as if it were the highest praise. And coming from Sasuke, it was.

Naruto perked up immediately, forgetting his anger. "Yeah, it was. You better be happy, because now everyone's gonna think Itachi was the killer."

"I owe you an article." The Uchiha reminded him. "You said something over the phone about a features story about me…?"

"Yeah, right!" Naruto picked up his jacket and reporter's notebook, gesturing to the door of the room. "Let's go somewhere quieter, and we can talk."

He led the black-haired CEO out of the room, without as much as a backwards glance at Shikamaru and Sakura.

"Well…" Sakura eventually said, her eyebrows raised. "This is going to be interestingly."

Shikamaru only nodded in agreement.

**oo**

So… could've been better, could've been worse. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.


End file.
